ISIE agents begin counting ballots at a polling station in Tunis during the parliamentary election. AFP
ISIE agents begin counting ballots at a polling station in Tunis during the parliamentary election. AFP
ISIE agents begin counting ballots at a polling station in Tunis during the parliamentary election. AFP
ISIE agents begin counting ballots at a polling station in Tunis during the parliamentary election. AFP

Exit polls show low turnout rate in Tunisia’s parliamentary elections


Ghaya Ben Mbarek
  • English
  • Arabic

Tunisia's Independent High Authority for Elections, whose members were appointed by President Kais Saied in May, said 803,638 of the 9,136,502 registered voters had cast their ballots by 6pm on Saturday, after the closure of ballot stations in a majority of constituencies.

This makes the official turnout rate, as announced by the electoral commission, 8.8 per cent across Tunisia.

“The electoral law does not mention a necessary threshold for the validation of these results so we will work with what we have,” Farouk Bouasker, president of ISIE, said in the last presser of the day at 7pm on Saturday.

Mr Bouasker claimed the low turnout rate was due to the absence of “corrupt political money” unlike previous elections, dubbing today’s vote as “pure and legitimate”.

Meanwhile, constituencies where there is only one candidate will have the winners announced automatically, said Tunisia’s High Electoral Authority member Mohamed Tlili Mnasser. This means that even the 400 votes rule that was required to make elections’ candidacies accepted will not be applied this time.

A second round of parliamentary elections will be required in places where the vote count shows a tie between two candidates or more.

Civil organisations observing the elections, such as Mourakiboun and Shahed Observatory, noted several electoral violations taking place such as the attempt of certain individuals to pay for people to vote or the interruption of the country's electoral silence rule.

Under Tunisia’s new electoral law, which was solely written by Tunisian president Kais Saied and later passed through a vaguely criticised referendum, set up a new system for elections where electors vote for individual candidates instead of party lists.

The new electoral system seems to be confusing for voters who showed up today. “I came here expecting to find different candidates as we are used to, but I only found one candidate that I do not know, so I cast a blank ballot instead,” one elderly man, who refused to identify himself, told The National after voting at the Rue d’Inde Elementary School ballot station.

Several local and international observers were present to monitor Tunisia’s elections of its future parliament, including African delegation Nouvelle Perspective and an official state delegation from Russia.

“Everything seems to be going well, we are used to observing elections in Tunisia here, the only difference we can see is that there aren’t many people participating” Louis Du Caca, member of Nouvelle Perspective African delegation, told The National at Rue de Marseille School ballot station.

Financial consultant Mohamed Sallemi said that he was obliged to cast a blank ballot due to the absence of competition in the Beb Bhar constituency, where he lives. He blamed the situation on "political inexperience”, but he remains hopeful and supportive of the president’s political project.

“I am one of the people who supported president Kais Saied decision on July 25 [2021], I know that there are certain challenges that we are facing at the moment, but I still believe that some of the people running for these elections can pump new blood into the legislative system and bring about the change we need,” Mr Sallemi told The National after casting his ballot.

Vote counts are expected to be finalised between December 18 and 20. However, the final results will be announced on January 19 after the conclusion of any appeal processes taken to Tunisia’s Administrative Court.

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

The Intruder

Director: Deon Taylor

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good

One star

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1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

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Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.

Stat of the day – 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.

The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227-4 at the close.

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Emergency

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Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

ICC Intercontinental Cup

UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (captain), Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Saqlain Haider, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Naveed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Boota, Amir Hayat, Ashfaq Ahmed

Fixtures Nov 29-Dec 2

UAE v Afghanistan, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Hong Kong v Papua New Guinea, Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Ireland v Scotland, Dubai International Stadium

Namibia v Netherlands, ICC Academy, Dubai

Copa del Rey

Barcelona v Real Madrid
Semi-final, first leg
Wednesday (midnight UAE)

MATCH INFO

Barcelona 4 (Messi 23' pen, 45 1', 48', Busquets 85')

Celta Vigo 1 (Olaza 42')

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1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Results

Stage 7:

1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29

2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time

3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious

4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep

5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM

General Classification:

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35

3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02

4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42

5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45

Astroworld
Travis Scott
Grand Hustle/Epic/Cactus Jack

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE results
Lost to Oman by eight runs
Beat Namibia by three wickets
Lost to Oman by 12 runs
Beat Namibia by 43 runs

UAE fixtures
Free admission. All fixtures broadcast live on icc.tv

Tuesday March 15, v PNG at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Friday March 18, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Saturday March 19, v PNG at Dubai International Stadium
Monday March 21, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

Results

2.30pm: Expo 2020 Dubai – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m; Winner: Barakka, Ray Dawson (jockey), Ahmad bin Harmash (trainer)

3.05pm: Now Or Never – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: One Idea, Andrea Atzeni, Doug Watson

3.40pm: This Is Our Time – Handicap (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Perfect Balance, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar

4.15pm: Visit Expo 2020 – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Kaheall, Richard Mullen, Salem bin Ghadayer

4.50pm: The World In One Place – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1.900m; Winner: Castlebar, Adrie de Vries, Helal Al Alawi

5.25pm: Vision – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Shanty Star, Richard Mullen, Rashed Bouresly

6pm: Al Wasl Plaza – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Jadwal, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson

While you're here
RESULTS

6.30pm: Longines Conquest Classic Dh150,000 Maiden 1,200m.
Winner: Halima Hatun, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer).

7.05pm: Longines Gents La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,200m.
Winner: Moosir, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.

7.40pm: Longines Equestrian Collection Dh150,000 Maiden 1,600m.
Winner: Mazeed, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

8.15pm: Longines Gents Master Collection Dh175,000 Handicap.
Winner: Thegreatcollection, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

8.50pm: Longines Ladies Master Collection Dh225,000 Conditions 1,600m.
Winner: Cosmo Charlie, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

9.25pm: Longines Ladies La Grande Classique Dh155,000 Handicap 1,600m.
Winner: Secret Trade, Tadhg O’Shea, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.

10pm: Longines Moon Phase Master Collection Dh170,000 Handicap 2,000m.
Winner:

The specs

Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Power: 300hp

Torque: 420Nm

Price: Dh189,900

On sale: now

Updated: December 18, 2022, 3:38 AM`